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We decided to visit Availablecar.com one Bank Holiday "for a look" having seen adverts and driven past their showroom at Castle Donington a few times. We were looking for long overdue MPV having had no joy in Autotrader and local used car dealers in Derbyshire..... and we were pleasantly surprised by what we encountered. Having had only limited experience of purchasing cars through "dealers" as such, I expected to be pounced on and hounded into looking at what THEY wanted me to look at - but nothing could be further from this.You walk in and simply get handed a booklet with all their current cars, details of them and prices etc.... and are left to browse the extensive outer displays. The MPVs which we were interested in were all grouped together, this we find to be a brilliant idea as all the cars were unlocked - we could explore and experiment with which style and model would suit us best. The ability to do this meant we were able to discount some models and settle on a Ford Galaxy.We decided to go and see if we could find someone to just run some prices past, and ended up going for the deal. We were a little miffed at only being offered a few hundred pounds part-ex for our mondeo, but we were advised if we wanted more from it - to keep it and sell it private as Available car would only really have any use for it by sending it to auction.The figures looked good, the finance was very competative and obviously the more cash you could send their way, the better the finance deal looked. We were offered a test drive, which we initially declined.... then accepted but chose not to drive it.... more sit and feel the ride.The sales rep was very knowledgeable about the range in general, and was very good and detailing performance issues whilst on the road. The only downside was that we could not collect for another week, as they had a lot on and we didn't have a lot of free time to be able to get in and pick it up during the day. They gave us the logbook which enabled us to do our bits of paperwork and arrange insurance.... while they valeted and MOT'd it (even though 3 months still remained on it) and performed what they call a 77 point check. We were offered a few extras, again this wasn't pushy this was more a case of "this is what we can offer, yes or no" and no was taken for an answer. We did opt for Diamondbrite/Scotchguard protection what with having kids...... inside and out.... for just under £200 added into the finance. We were left under no illusion what we had to do in the week that we had to wait, everything was presented in a "keep safe" envelope very well explained.When we arrived for pick-up, early, they were still ready to greet us and dealt with us very promptly. Again, the explainations were clear and concise, nothing was rushed unless we were happy. We were allowed to inspect the car inside and out before we signed the final handover, and the car came with 30days or 10000 miles warrenty in the event it developed any problems - they would fix them.Free tax disc holder, cleaned inside and out.... everything working.... phone numbers provided in the event of any problems.....

All in all, I can't fault them. Nothing pushy, nothing pressured, a very welcoming and relaxed place to browse or buy, just like a supermarket. I have already suggested a neighbour pay them a visit - as the stock is changing all the time and you never know what you may find that appeals.

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